Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria in Kaduna State, Reverend John Hayab, tells GODWIN ISENYO how the Baptist Convention of Nigeria and parents raised N250m to rescue the 120 pupils of the Bethel Baptist High School, Kaduna, who were kidnapped by bandits in July 2021
What is your reaction to the release of the remaining abducted pupil of the Bethel Baptist High School by his abductors?
It was a thing of joy for us to have Treasure Ayuba back because his parents, relatives, the school, the church, and all well-wishers had begun to lose hope. For the boy to have stayed for two years, three months, and 27 days, people believed he could not come back. So, we were happy when he eventually showed up on his own. We rejoiced over that and we presented him to the State Governor, Senator Uba Sani, as the last returnee of the 121 pupils of the Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi, Kaduna, who were abducted in the early hours of July 5, 2021. The essence of that gesture was to plead with the Governor not to allow such a thing to happen to another child in our State and if possible in our country again. How could a little child leave home for school and end up staying two years and four months in the hands of bandits? We thank God that he’s back.
What has the church been doing since he returned?
Since he came back, we have been trying to see how we can help him. First, we took him to the hospital and treated him, and after that, we came back and as I speak, he’s undergoing trauma healing somewhere. When the organisation that offered to do the trauma healing got to the family, in their engagement, they realised that both the primary and secondary victims were traumatised. Treasure’s aunt, who’s the sister to his mother, was among those kidnapped at the Federal School of Forestry, Afaka, in 2021, and up till now, the grandmother told me that she is still going through a serious traumatic challenge. She said there were certain sounds of motorbikes that she would hear and she would start running and looking for a place to hide, thinking that they (bandits) had come to abduct her again. She would be shouting, ‘They are coming, they are coming!’ So, the organisation graciously agreed that the trauma counselling should not only be for the boy – the mother is involved, the grandmother is involved, so are her sister who’s also a victim, and a few members of the family.
The organisation has taken them outside the State. The first stage will be for a week or two then they will come back and together, we will go again because I want to see him go through the process and overcome it before we enrol him back in school. We don’t want to rush into taking him to school until he is okay medically and otherwise. So, that’s the situation at the moment.
How would you describe the role played by individuals and groups to ensure that the pupils were all released?
Honestly, all we can say is to thank Nigerians, including those who prayed for us, and the media who kept reminding the world that the boy was not back. Our special gratitude goes to a particular Governor whom I worked with when everybody had forgotten about the child. On different occasions, he helped us with money that we had to give to the bandits, yet they didn’t release the boy, but the fact remains that he helped. I can remember one time we gave money, the bandits asked us to bring 50 per cent of the money we brought. They said the next day when we came with the money, we would receive the boy at a particular place and when those (ransom bearers) got there, the bandits kidnapped them and collected the money. When we remember all that pain and drama, all we need to do is to thank God that the boy is back. At least, our suffering and sacrifices were not in vain. We thank those who prayed, said kind words about us, and even those who misunderstood the roles that we played.
We remained hopeful that the boy would come back one day, and at last, God answered our prayers and brought the boy back. Let’s just pray that something like this never happens to any child and for Treasure to overcome this trauma and continue with his education. Losing two years and four months notwithstanding, we know he can catch up. At least, the determination is there. I reminded him that education is everything and without it, he would continue to live in that trauma. I told him that when he had proper training, he would use the experience to teach people the secret of success.
How did his family and other well-wishers feel when he was not part of the first 120 pupils who returned and how did the church intervene?
When the first 120 abducted pupils came back, virtually everybody felt it was over, that the boy was truly gone and that he was not going to come back. So, there was no effort from the state to find a way for the boy to come back. So, what the grandmother did was to personally reach out to me. She called and I drove to her house. I listened to her story and I promised that I would do my best to help her. So, I started reaching out. She was talking to the bandits and once they had an agreement, I sourced funds to give to the bandits. We gave money twice and the boy did not come back, but I told her not to be discouraged because as long as the boy was alive, we were hopeful that he would return home.
At one point, she lost contact with all the bandits she was talking to, not knowing that some of the key players had died during their encounter with the military. It was when the boy came back that we were told that those we were dealing with earlier were killed when they went out for operations. When we had no one to communicate with again, she (grandmother) began to lose hope that she would ever see him again. But as God would always have His way, the young boy surfaced from nowhere and came on his own. There was no payment of any money when he came, but there were other payments we made when things went quiet. We were quietly reaching out.
What else did the boy tell you?
According to the boy, after a long time in the Kaduna area, they moved him out. At the time they (bandits) shot a military aircraft in Niger State, they were there. But when the bandits felt the military was fast closing in on them, they moved to another place, and from the description he gave, they moved to an area around the Kebbi-Sokoto axis. He said they were strangers at their new place and not really known and they had their limitations of where they could go and not go. So, that was when he took advantage of the opportunity and escaped because the key actors at that time had also been killed. Those ones (bandits) were cool and their biggest joy was to get money, and go and buy guns.
Did they force him to join their operations?
They never took him out for any operation, according to him, but they always tipped him. When they came back from operations, some of them gave him N2,000, N3,000, or N1,000 as the case may be. Whenever they were going out (for an operation) he could also tell them to buy something for him and they would buy it. He did not know where they were, but how did we understand the location he came from? He said when he walked out of the bush and came out, he talked to someone and was led to where he could get a vehicle to Kaduna, and when he told us the amount charged, from our understanding, he could only have come from the Sokoto area. They (bandits) gave him two mobile phones. We have been working on that. I want to hand over the two phones to the security (agencies) so that they can carry out a thorough check of who they used them for. All those things are with me at the moment. I want him to regain himself and heal from anything that he got from them (bandits).
The sum of N250m was said to have been paid as ransom for the release of the abducted school pupils in 2021. How was the money raised?
The situation we found ourselves in was one of the most terrible situations one could be in. Sadly, amid poverty, money had to come out; some from the parents of the kidnapped children, some from the church and many well-wishers. We give credit especially to our convention – the Nigeria Baptist Convention and the President, Rev Israel Akanji. He’s such a workaholic. He’s a man who can mobilise. He’s one man who can go to every length to solve problems. So, he played a very vital role in raising some of the funds. It’s one of the most painful things any time I remember such an amount being paid to bandits and consider the situation of the parents of the children at the moment.
It was not like they had the money. They don’t even have money to eat. Some of them have issues with rent and other things, but they had to raise money since lives were involved and you know what it means to say that your child was taken away and is not dead. I mean, you can do anything (for the child to return). I went out of my way, talking to friends. They sent money but the bulk of the money truly came from our convention through the leadership of Rev Israel Akanji, who went out of his way to seek spirited individuals’ help.
Sometimes, they (bandits) could just call and say if we bring N10m, they would release 15 pupils, or if we bring N15m, they would release 10. They kept doing that because they knew that when they did, the money would keep coming. You know, the pain we went through when they released the first batch was that when some of the parents did not see their children in that batch, they were troubled and worried about what could have happened to them. You know, we didn’t know or have a list of the children to be released. The bandits just chose the ones they released. So, as some parents celebrated the release of their children, others whose children were not among them piled pressure on us. So, it was such a terrible situation.
One day, I was at an event where I met a parent of one of the abducted pupils whom I had known for a long time and whom I actually helped with funds from generous individuals. It was unimaginable what she told me that they (parents) went through to get funds for the release of their children. That’s the problem we went through but somehow, money had to be raised. I remember that we also bought food for the bandits and did so many things. It was far beyond this money (N250m). It was a painful experience that we don’t want to go through now since our children are back. We just want to be part of those who will work with the government and security agencies to ensure that no other Nigerian child goes through this again.
What specific actions were taken to ensure the safe release of the last pupil before he returned?
It was when the pupil came that he knew that we paid extra money aside from his own. It (the N250m) was for the entire students. I don’t want to say what we did for the young boy alone because those were aside from his parents and the church. I said this and I am not ashamed to say it: one governor in Nigeria heard my cry and chose to support us. I just called and explained to him and he asked, ‘What do we do?’ And I told him that we needed some money and asked whether he could just give us to let them (bandits) release the pupils. I told him that we must not allow those people (schoolchildren) to stay too long because the trauma would be tripled and the pain would be multiplied and he heard me. All I did was that the very day the young boy came back, I called him and told him that the boy he worked hard for behind the scenes came back on his own. And to them (donors), that was just their joy. Nothing more, nothing less!
How has the incident affected the church?
The entire kidnapping drama in Kaduna has impoverished the church. If you look at the amount (spent) for one issue that I just told you, you will understand what I am talking about. I didn’t even talk about the 55 worshippers at Emmanuel Baptist Church, who were also kidnapped. I didn’t talk about many, including children of the faithful kidnapped. This happened in a community where people could hardly feed themselves and pay school fees, and such huge amounts were paid to bandits. Fifty per cent of the amount paid to bandits in Kaduna can improve our schools, hospitals, and some other facilities. The kidnapping has further improvised us (church).
The kidnapping further created fear among us. Today, it takes someone with a strong heart to go to church, hear an unusual sound, and still sing praises to the Lord. People even shiver when they hear the sound of moving motorcycles. It also affected our economy, our attention, and our commitment to the faith. It affects our freedom to go out and source our daily living and further creates doubt about the ability of those leading us, who are supposed to defend us, to defend us. At times, out of courtesy, we just praise them but in reality, they didn’t play a good role at that time. It’s not just what we want. I’m not supposed to be lamenting about the bad things in the country, but we have to because we are facing reality.
Was there no contribution from the federal and state governments as well as the security agencies in the release of the abducted pupils?
At the time we went through all the drama, some individuals who served in the government came to our aid and we thank them, but as an institution, the government didn’t show up. I know that I really went out of my way. I must give credit to the then Inspector-General of Police and the Director-General of the Department of State Services because I had to go and meet them. They also played certain roles. However, the atmosphere, reception, and attitude of the leader of the state at the time the unfortunate incident happened were negative and not supportive.
@The PUNCH
